186 (Vol 44. No. 2176)
Boston LIUNA Officials Face Charges For Irregularities in Pension Fund
BOSTON-Two Laborers Union officials, including
the chairman of the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Laborers'
Pension fund, were charged in federal court April 13 with filing
false statements and failing to file disclosure documents relating
to $120,000 in withheld pension benefits (U.S. v. Mandarini, DC
Mass, No. 98-CR-10117-RGS, 4/13/98).
United States Attorney Donald K. Stern said
that Joseph P. Mandarini, sergeant-at-arms of Laborers Local 22,
and his father Louis A. Mandarini Sr. were charged with making
false statements in violation of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act and with failing to file financial disclosure documents
required by the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act.
According to the charges, Joseph Mandarini
and other family members owned a business, MJM Abatement Inc.,
which employed members of Local 22. In April 1993, the union pension
fund determined-that MJM had not paid $120,000 in benefits it
was obligated to pay to Local 22 members under collective bargaining
agreements
When a collection agent from the fund sought
to collect delinquent payments, according to the charges, Joseph
Mandarini allegedly presented a false document, concealing some
$90,000 in accounts receivable.
The elder Mandarini failed to file annual
reports with the Department of Labor obligating him, as an officer
of Local 22, to list his financial transactions with MJM and his
wife's ownership interest in the company, according to Stern.
Joseph Mandarini faces five years' imprisonment
and Louis Mandarini faces one year's imprisonment. Both face fines
and debarment from administering pension plans and holding union
office, and they must pay restitution to ERISA funds.
A court document filed with the charges outlines
a plea agreement under which the defendants will be sentenced
and will make restitution by April 25 for any outstanding balance
in the sum of $90,000 owed by MJM.
COPYRIGHT ° 1998 BY THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS, INC., WASHINGTON. D.C.